“The worst-case scenario for a high-emissions scenario has been revised downward – but the best-case option is now implausible”

“In a world where people accept global heating is bad, news that we had avoided a boiling-in-our-own-juices version of the planet’s future might have been welcomed.

Instead, the news that a group of climate scientists had officially retired their very worst scenario for the future of the planet was proof – according to Donald Trump [2] – that the scientists had been (in all caps) WRONG! WRONG! WRONG.

Picking up the baton this week, a former editor of the Australian, Chris Mitchell, claimed the development [3] “dramatically cuts the forecast warming of the planet by the end of this century”, in a dramatic mischaracterisation of what’s actually happened.

To understand why this is a gross mischaracterisation, we have to understand a bit of the background.”

Graham Readfearn reports for the Guardian June 10, 2026. [4]